Give Me: Shelter Looks (Might And) Delightful
I kind of wish that all games were Shelter. Instead of starring bald space marines toting guns the size of mountain lions, they should exclusively be about mother badgers dutifully marching their squalling, squeaking babies to a new home. Not-lucrative-enough-anymore 18-34-year-old straight male demographic be damned, that's the next generation of our medium. Not convinced? Then burrow beneath the break for a video of two Might and Delight devs discussing and showing off the game. Sadly, they never really badger one another, or else my headline would've been a lot better.
Shelter really does look fascinating. It's all at once intriguingly different and worthy of at least 35 high-pitched adora-squeals. Here's the basic premise for those who are just now tuning in:
"Shelter is a third-person, single-player adventure game for PC and Mac and that is developed in Unity. It tells the story of a badger family facing the dangers of the wild, while the cubs are too young to survive without their mother. As most of a parental animals life, especially badgers, revolves around their cubs, we wanted to create a game where most, if not all of the gameplay aspects revolves around them as well. Whether it be finding, collecting, hunting, gathering and distributing food, or protecting, hiding andsheltering them from harm. We want it to be your job as the mama badger to make them strong, so they can survive and eventually one day take care of themselves."
Granted, I do have a couple concerns. For one, that sounds like it could be a giant escort mission in badger's clothing, and - fluffy hugsqueaks or not - that idea has frustration written all over it. Also, Might and Delight are openly billing this one as fairly linear, and there's always the worry that it could end up too much so.
But goodness do I ever want Shelter to be great. The potential's there, certainly, and also badgers. The game's on Steam Greenlight right now if you'd like to help guide it through Valve's increasingly nebulous forest maze.
Shelter will be out later this summer.